


Peaceful Tides

by BlackBirdAolen



Category: El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
Genre: F/M, Water Nephilim, peaceful times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-22
Updated: 2014-03-22
Packaged: 2018-01-16 14:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1350364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBirdAolen/pseuds/BlackBirdAolen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the battle against the Fallen Angels has come to a conclusion, Enoch and Ishtar enjoy the new-found peace on Earth - and discover a sign that an old friend of Enoch still is alive.</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="http://ask.fm/BlackBirdAolen">Got a fanfic idea for me?</a><br/><a href="http://cheroshseiphar.deviantart.com/">My deviantART - full of original fiction.</a><br/><a href="http://blackbirdaolen.tumblr.com/">Snippets and ramblings on my tumblr.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Peaceful Tides

"Look, Enoch, there it is." Ishtar pointed into the deep blue waters, where something pale was moving closer to the surface. "The Archangels were right—Armaros's Water Nephilim still lives."

Enoch was astonished to see the pale creature, which faintly remembered of a jellyfish, floating in the water. It moved with a certain grace, but also quite slowly, while the long arm waved through the waters, stirring them just gently, as it seemed. It was such a stark contract to the Fire Nephilim Enoch had fought at the Tower of the Fallen Angels, it was completely throwing him off, somehow.

Ishtar chuckled, smiling up at Enoch. "That's good, no? It means that Armaros still is alive. There still is a chance that his soul can be saved."

"I don't know if he still wants to be saved." Enoch felt troubled, his gaze still on the pale Nephilim creature, which was moving to the same spot at the surface over and over again. As if it was dancing in the waters for them, if very slowly and sometimes looking like it was having difficulties performing the more complex movements. "Nor do I know if he is within my grasp any longer. But I know that he saw me as a friend to the very end, and that he still called out to me when the Darkness once more swallowed him. He must be alive still, I guess..."

Isthar gently pulled him down to sit next to her. They were still at the rocky cliffs of an island, though only a little above sea level. Beneath them, the island abruptly ended—so much so that the waters right at the bottom of the cliff were already 30 meters deep, if not deeper. The ground made a steep fall from that point on, and it was the only reason why the gigantic and majestic Water Nepilim could swim within their range of sight.

Enoch felt a little heavy on the inside, because he had to think about Armaros whenever he saw the Water Nephilim appearing in the deep blue sea. The past still didn't let go of him, and that meant that he could recall how the encounter with Armaros had ended quite well. It still tore at his heart to think that destiny had torn them apart like that. There had been so many things he still had wanted to tell his friend, about the human world and its fascinating facets, but before he could have done that, he had been separated from Armaros.

It seemed that Ishtar could feel his sorrow quite well. The rings around her arm clinked softly when she rested her arm around his shoulders, giving him a sympathetic squeeze. She didn't want him to be so sad, and yet Enoch couldn't help it. There was just something so tragic about Armaros's fall, he felt like his throat was squeezed tightly by a cold hand. It took several minutes for the feeling to subside, and until then, the Water Nephilim seemed to have disappeared from their range of vision.

"Enoch, is everything alright?" Ishtar sounded worried, and Enoch sighed quietly. "You're thinking of him again, right? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have reminded you of that fateful fight..."

"It's alright, really." Enoch shook his head, putting on a smile, if a slightly insecure one. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just... I just feel a little lost every time I think of him. I blame myself for not being able to save him."

"It's not your fault." Ishtar hugged him close, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "It can't be your fault. You tried to be there for him, but it seemed like you were fated to succeed in a different quest."

"That seems true, yes." Enoch squeezed Ishtar's hand, taking a deep breath. "Yes, that seems to be the case..."

"You're still caught up in the past..." Ishtar sounded genuinely worried now. She gently rested her hands on Enoch's cheeks, making him look at her. "None of us is blaming you. You did what you felt was right. If you hadn't defeated Armaros, you would have fallen back into the Darkness. The vileness clinging to you once more would have given you the rest. It would have consumed me, too, after I lost the battle against Ezekiel. If you had failed, then the world would be a single playground for the Water Nephilim right now. But thanks to you, it was averted. And that is what you should be proud of."

Enoch smiled now, kissing Ishtar's forehead. "Thank you..." he muttered, feeling more at ease. He hadn't wanted to be praised, rather be assured that he had done the right thing. He still mourned for the loss of Armaros, that was true. But he also could still hear the last words mouthed by the angel who had lost his speech during the painful fall. Armaros had thanked him, the words having echoed in his mind, without needing sound to be the medium between Armaros's lips and Enoch's ears.

Leaning back into the soft grass, Enoch looked up into the skies, while Ishtar still observed the Water Nephilim in the ocean below. "I think it will take some more time until I fully understand what happened." He gazed up at Ishtar, who was casting a questioning look at him. "It seems so unbelievable at times... so incredible that I really did it. I defeated the Fallen, and retrieved their souls from the Tower. A shame, though, that some of them died during the fall, or later on were consumed by their own children."

"Yes..." Ishtar sighed quietly. "The Nephilim were the most tragic case of what stemmed from the fall, other than the Tower or the Fallen themselves. They didn't know where to go, and thus suffered. But somehow, the Water Nephilim must have been different. I guess that it is a lot like its father Armaros. Flowing with the tides, allowing for destiny to lead it throughout the oceans of this world. Though it is strange that it would appear before us like that, no?"

"Strange indeed. I believe that it is quite capable of understanding where it is, and what it is doing there. Stranger still that it would be so curious about us. You would think that it might dislike us. Well, except for you, maybe." Enoch snickered quietly. "You were the one who always cared for the Nephilim, be it as Ishtar or as Nanna."

"Stop praising me like that, Enoch," Ishtar gently admonished. "I did little to prevent the whole tragedy from happening. But I still cared for Neph, that much is true." She sighed quietly, cocking her head to the side. "Though I wonder... why the Water Nephilim was able to find a place for itself, and to become something far more harmless, something the Council isn't imminently worried about. Sure, their eyes still stray towards it, but they don't seem to be bothered by its mere existence. They had a reason to worry about the Fire Nephilim, as it was a creature of utter destruction. I wonder if the Water Nephilim is its exact counterpart?"

"I was wondering about that, too." Enoch slowly sat up, only to creep towards the edge and lay on his stomach, arms at the edge of the cliff, and his head resting atop his crossed arms. He could see the ocean beneath him, and sometimes a hint of the Water Nephilim dancing beneath the waves. "It doesn't seem to create anything, though, except maybe for a sense of peace and calmness."

"That already is worth a lot," Ishtar argued. "I don't think that it needs to create something lasting for much longer, like an island or something like that. After all, it's God's work to create, not the Water Nephilim's. But true, true..." She fell silent for a moment, then rested an arm around Enoch and smiled. "But as long as it is out there, we know that Armaros exists, too. Should it fade into light and nothingness one day, then we can properly grieve for the loss of your dear friend."

 


End file.
